


24 hours?

by LonelyAngel



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M, Time Runs Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 07:52:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11144100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyAngel/pseuds/LonelyAngel
Summary: Everybody has their date of birth and the date of their death tattooed on their body. Tyler knows he will die when he's seventeen, he accepts it, but it hurts that he has to leave Josh and his time runs out.





	24 hours?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a book I read a few years ago but I forgot the title

Tyler woke up at 5.34 am. He snuggled closer to Josh and wanted to fall asleep again when a thought hit him. He sat up and glanced at the clock.  
  
14.11.2006, 5.35 am  
  
He started to shiver. Today was the day. The day when...

  
Tyler touched his neck. He couldn't feel it, but he knew the tattoo was there. The same date. 14th November 2006. Right above his date of birth. 1st December 1988.

  
Tyler feared this day since his parents explained what it meant. It was the day of his death.

  
Tyler was seventeen and he would die. He would die today and he couldn't be saved.  
Everybody knew the day of their death, it wasn't possible to survive this day. Some people died when they were old (like his brother Zack or his sister Maddy, they would have a long life), some died as little kids and some died as teenagers. And Tyler was destinied to die at the age of seventeen. He had tried to enjoy his life, he had a nice family and friends and he had a perfect boyfriend.

Tyler glanced at Josh. He knew he would die when he was seventy-eight. Tyler thought it was unfair, but he never complained out loud. At least he had seventeen years to life. That was time enough to grow up, to do some stupid things, to fall in love. Tyler was greatful for his time with Josh. He could also have died as a toddler and never meet Josh, right?

  
Tyler placed a hand on Josh's warm back. His boyfriend was sleeping deeply and Tyler didn't want to wake him up. He kept glancing at the watch and counted the minutes until...until when? Tyler didn't know when he would die, he could die at 11.59 pm or right now. He sighed. Josh moved and blinked.

  
"Tyler?" he whispered.

  
Tyler hummed in response and played with the hem of Josh's shirt.

  
"It's way too early, Josh, you should go to sleep again."

  
Josh shook his head. "No, I wanna be with you. I wanna hear your voice."

  
"Okay." Tyler whispered back.

  
Josh sat up, back resting against the headboard and Tyler lied down, head resting in Josh's lap.

  
Josh ran a hand through his soft hair.  
"How do you feel?" he asked softly.

  
Tyler sighed. "I don't know. Tell me something."

  
Josh bit on his lip. "When I was young, I bought myself a skateboard. It was my first one and it was pretty shitty, but I loved it. One day I fell down and my knees bled. My mom picked me up and carried me inside and she gave me ice cream. It didn't hurt much, but I was very proud when my mom told me how brave I was."

  
Tyler smiled but then he remembered what day it was and he started to cry.

  
"I don't want to die, Josh." he whimpered.

Josh sighed and wiped his tears away. "I know, Ty." He wanted to cry too, but he had promised Tyler to be strong and not to cry.

  
"I'm so scared, Josh." Tyler sobbed. "I don't know how I'm going to die. What if I die in an accident? What if I get hit by a car? What if I have to suffer for hours until I die? Some people died in pain, Josh. I don't want to be one of them!"

  
"It won't happen, I promise."

  
"What if I get shot?" Tyler gasped. "I don't want to get shot, it hurts!"

  
"You won't get shot, Tyler, I will protect you." Josh tried to calm him down. He felt sick when he thought about a friend who died when he was thirteen. He was killed by a gas explosion. It was terrible. Twenty people lost their lives.

  
"You can't protect me, Josh." Tyler sobbed hysterically. "I'm not ready, I don't want to leave you!"

  
"You can watch me from heaven." Josh said with a sad smile. "And no homework anymore. I still have to go to school. You can relax all day up there, you know?"

  
Josh's dark humor calmed Tyler down a bit. He closed his eyes. "I just love you so much. It hurts to know that I have to leave you."

  
"It's not fair." Josh said bitterly. "You deserve a long life."

  
"We can't change it." Tyler answered tiredly.

He fell asleep on Josh's lap. Josh held his hand and listened to him breathing, always afraid he'd stop.

  
His family entered his room at 7. Tyler's mother smiled sadly when she saw her son sleeping in his boyfriend's lap.

  
"Tyler, honey, wake up." she said softly.

Tyler blinked and yawned. His mother hugged him and Tyler buried his head in her shoulder. She rubbed his back and Josh saw that she teared up.

  
"Breakfast is ready." Tyler's father said and they got up and walked to the kitchen.

They sat down around the table and Chris said the grace. Then, they started eating. The table was full of food, eggs, bacon, pancakes and cake, but nobody was hungry.

Tyler stared at his plate, but he didn't touch his food. Josh grabbed his hand under the table and squeezed it. Tyler smiled.

  
Tyler's siblings didn't talk much and after a few minutes, Maddy excused herself because she started to cry. She ran upstairs and slammed the door.

  
Tyler swallowed. He didn't want to make his family sad.

  
His mother cleared her throat. "I'm proud of you, Tyler. I'm happy that you're my son."

  
Tyler nodded. "I love you, mom and dad."

  
"We love you too, Tyler." his father said.

  
They finished the breakfast in silence. "Can Josh and I go to my room?" Tyler asked.

His mother hesitated. "You can go to the living room." She didn't say it out loud, but Tyler knew she just wanted to check on him from time to time.

  
Tyler and Josh sat down on the couch. "You will be at my funeral, right?" Tyler asked.

  
"Don't say that."

  
"Just stop pretending like I can survive this day." Tyler said irritated.

  
"Of course I will be at your funeral." Josh answered softly.

  
"Good." Tyler pondered. "I told my mom she should buy red flowers. And I've seen the coffin. It looks comfortable. I can't wait to get in there."

  
Josh teared up. "Tyler, please, don't talk like that."

  
Tyler's mom interrupted them. "Tyler? How are you?"

  
Tyler rolled his eyes. "I'm not dead yet."

  
"I'll prepare lunch now. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

  
Tyler nodded. "Yeah, fine."

  
She left the room and Tyler tried to hide his fear. He crossed his arms and sighed. "Josh..."

  
Josh placed a hand on his shoulder. "What do you need?"

  
"Just hold me, please."

  
Josh wrapped his arms around boyfriend's body and Tyler leaned into his touch.

  
"Remember when I said I want to die in your arms?" he whispered. Josh nodded. He was glad Tyler's eyes were closed so he didn't see the sadness in Josh's eyes.

  
"Yeah...It was right after we kissed the first time."

  
"I hate this. Why do I know the date of my death, but not the time? I hate to wait like this. Every sentence could be my last and I wouldn't even know."

  
"I know."

  
The bell rang. It were Tyler's grandparents along with his friends to say goodbye. Tyler hoped he would just die, so he didn't have to look them in the eyes and hold back his tears when they told him how much they loved him. Tyler hated every second of it.

  
It was noon when they left. Suddenly, Tyler felt bad. He should have written a letter or at least said some nice things to them, they only cared about him. Josh was by his side the entire time.

  
Tyler glanced at his watch. Twelve hours left. Or less. He didn't know.

  
"I need to pee." Josh said and stood up.

"Don't die, okay?"

  
Tyler grimaced. "I will try."

  
Josh left the room and Tyler stood up. His mother still prepared the food. He felt like he was suffocating. He couldn't breathe. Tyler ran to the front door and left the house. He ran through his neighbourhood, he didn't care about his family right now. He needed to get a clear mind. He slowed down.

  
Tyler started to shiver when he thought about his funeral. He didn't like the coffin at all. It seemed too small for his body, too small to breathe let along move.

  
Tyler laughed bitterly. He didn't have to worry about that.

  
He decided to get back to his house. Suddenly, he was afraid that he wouldn't make it in time. What if he'd die on his way back? He would never see Josh again.

  
Tyler started to run again, fear filled his heart. He ran as fast as he could, almost stumbling over his own feet.

  
He saw his house and sprinted to the door. The door opened before he could reach it and Tyler stumbled into the hall.

  
"Where have you been!?" his mother yelled. She was crying. Madison next to her sobbed violently. "I thought- I thought you were dead!"

  
"I'm sorry." Tyler mumbled.

  
Josh, who was really pale, pulled him into a hug. "You scared me, Tyler." he whispered. 

"I'm sorry." Tyler repeated.

  
"You're alive. That's all that matters."

  
He kissed Tyler. Tyler almost started to cry when he felt Josh's soft lips.

  
"I love you." he whispered and rested his forehead against Josh's.

  
Tyler's mother took a deep breath. "Let's go to the living room."

  
They followed her and sat down. After an awkward silence, she started to talk about Zack being part of the basketball team, always a fake smile on her face, trying to cheer them up. She didn't mention that Tyler would never play basketball again. Tyler always kept glancing to the clock. He didn't pay attetion to his mother's voice, his heart was pounding in his chest and he was trembling slightly.

  
"I wanna watch TV." he interrupted his mother.

  
She furrowed her brows. "TV? Tyler, I don't think you should watch TV on..."

  
"It's my life and I want to watch TV." Tyler said simply. "Please."

  
"It's okay, Kelly." Tyler's father answered and placed a hand on his wife's back. Kelly bit on her lip and shrugged. "Okay."

  
Madison stood up and switched the TV on. She glanced at Tyler and he saw the pity in her eyes. He smiled at her and she smiled back half-heartedly. They watched a comedy series and Tyler forgot his situation for some time and laughed at the jokes.

  
He would miss Tyler's laugh the most, Josh thought. Tyler's laugh made him incredible happy. It was the best thing in the world.

  
"Josh, I'm tired." Tyler mumbled after some time.

  
"Do you want dinner, honey?" Tyler's mom asked.

  
Tyler shook his head. "No, thanks, mom."  
Josh and Tyler stood up. His family said goodnight like it was a normal evening. Tyler swallowed, he felt weak and Josh had to hold him upright when they walked to Tyler's room.

  
"Let's climb onto the roof." Tyler said.

  
"What if you fall?"

  
Tyler laughed dryly. "It doesn't matter, right?"

  
They climbed through a window and sat down on the roof. Tyler didn't fall.

  
"I'm afraid I'll die before I can say how much I love you." he said and took a deep breath. "I love you so much, Josh, you're my universe, my sun and my moon and you give me the strength to deal with the fact that I will die, although I'm only seventeen. I want to live longer, I'm not ready to leave you, but I have to and I just want you to know that I'm grateful for all the things you have done for me."

  
Josh swallowed hardly. His eyes filled with tears. "I love you, too, Tyler. I..." he breathed shakily. "I wish we had more time, but I promise I will never forget you."

  
Tyler sighed and Josh wrapped his arms around him.

  
"Never?" Tyler asked quietly.

  
Josh nodded. Tears started to stream steadily over his cheek. "Never."

 

  
  
Tyler died at 10.13 pm in Josh's arms.


End file.
